Mike Ehrmantraut
Michael "Mike" Ehrmantraut (very German name, Bavarian) is the primary mechanic, fixer and enforcer in Gus Fring's minimally staffed crystal meth operation. Also an associate of Saul Goodman, he has served Saul as private investigator and a fixer, a go-to guy for sticky situations. As a former beat cop and true professional, he maintains an extensive, up to date knowledge of forensic evidence, surveillance equipment, and police procedure. Mike is also well trained and cool in all types of combat situations, once using science and long strategy to take down a large number of hostiles sans fuss. He admires the loyalty between Walter and Jesse and he is a family man so he can see better how Walter is going to act when confronted or emotional. This insight makes Mike very useful to Gus. Character History ﻿Like Gus not much is known about Mike's past. He was a beat cop back in the 60's/70's and is apparently a grandfather (the small girl with whom he's shown, in golden light, appear to have a strong bond though her guardian and he aren't over friendly). His spouse has neither appeared nor been mentioned, and she may be estranged, divorced or deceased. Because of his brains, he is closer to Gus than any other criminal associate. He is trusted by Gus to be all alone in the Pollos office with the computer on at one point. Gus will shape his plans and strategies based on Mikes continual advisement. Gus requests Mike to dig up his own history if possible so he can gauge whether the DEA will have any luck. Mikes' efforts in this regard give Gus much needed peace of mind about his broader vulnerability to "black ops" agents. Mike was also able to identify Joaqin Salamanca at a glance, demonstrating his comprehensive familiarity with the cartel. Season 2 Saul references Mike stating that he "knows a guy (Mike) who knows a guy (Victor) who knows a guy (Gus)". Through Mike, Saul is able to get information on contacting Gus and set up a meeting between him and with Walt. Mike makes his first onscreen appearance at the end of Season 2 after Jane Margolis overdoses on heroin and Walt calls Saul for advice. He cleans up the scene, removing all of Jesse's drug paraphernalia and the duffel bag of money made from the large drug deal to Gus. He instructs Jesse on what procedure to follow and what to tell the paramedics (or cops) when they show up ("I woke up, I found her. That's all I know."). Mike later drives Walt to the drug den where Jesse has retreated in grief . Season 3 A few weeks later, someone hires Mike to spy on Walt's wife and reprot to Saul, Skyler, who they fear may tell the authorities what she knows about her husband. While Mike is installing pinhole cameras outside the White residence, Walt shows up unexpectedly and breaks into his own home. Mike easily avoids being seen by Walt, cooly making his way back to his car. Watching through the windshield Mike observes The Cousins arrival and relays their entry into Walts' house with a phone call to an associate of Gus, warning him of Walt's imminent murder . After his surveillance reveals discord in the White household, Mike arrives at Saul Goodman's office with recordings. Hearing on the tape that Walt planned to visit Ted Beneke at his office, Saul sends Mike to stop him. Finding Walt being escorted by security out of Beneke Fabricators, Mike twists Walt's arms and throws him into the back of his car and takes him back to Saul's office. There, Saul tries to rationalize with Walt about his erratic behavior, but Walt gets angered by a comment made about his wife and attacks Saul. Mike, though off the clock, eventually steps in to stop him. He then takes Walt home where Walt has demanded all recording equipment be removed from his home. Mike obliges, then is escorted by Walt back to his car. Mike remarks "Y'know, Walter, sometimes it's not so bad to have someone watching your back," having noticed a scythe chalked on the pavement outside the house by the Cousins. He later provides Gus with information on Walt's health issues, suggesting that he use the threat of the Cousins to get Walt producing meth again . Mike is later seen leaving the hospital following the failed assassination attempt on Hank, dropping a syringe into a disposal bin on his way out. It is implied that he poisoned the surviving Cousin to induce cardiac arrest on Gus's order, to prevent him from informing Juan Bolsa that Gus authorized the hit on Hank contrary to Bolsa's restrictions on the DEA . A few days later, Mike pays Walt a visit at his home, calling it a "professional courtesy." Walt had a plan to somehow get Jesse arrested on a misdemeanor charge and temporarily placed in a very minimum security jail. Mike informs Walt that he won't help with this scheme as their mutual boss, Gus, wouldn't like it. From there, Mike tells Walt a detailed story about his days as a beat cop. He goes off about how at one point he had to deal with a domestic dispute issue between a man and a woman. The man would beat his wife continually and Mike would have to take the man away and then send him back home. One day, Mike was so angry that he took the man out to the desert, beat him, and held a gun to his head. After evacuating the man's bowels using only fear, he states whole heartedly that if he even touches his wife again he wouldn't live to see the sunrise. However, weeks later, the man killed his wife by bludgeoning her with a blender base. This is where Mike stepped across the line a few paces, and broke bad. The illustrated point of Mike's story however is the difference between "half measures" and "full measures" . Later on, after Walt kills two dealers working for Gus who Jesse was gunning for because they went and killed the child they punked to do their dirty work for them, Mike sets out to find Jesse. He intimidates Saul into giving him information on Jesse's whereabouts, but a wisely retreating Saul deftly slips him a fake address. The next day, (after 1 more cook) he is suddenly given an order to kill Walter with Victor, another fiercely loyal henchman working for Gus. Walt begs for his life and offers up Jesse in exchange, revealing that he knows his whereabouts. They unwittingly allow Walt to give Jesse a call, but he uses this opportunity to give Jesse an order to kill Gale, the man being groomed to be Walt's replacement in the superlab. Mike didn't know Walter knew Gale's address held Walt at gunpoint as Victor races in a panic to Gale's apartment to stop Jesse . Season 4 Mike continues to hold Walt at gunpoint in the superlab. Smoke is shooting out his ears from Walt's big monkeywrench. Victor eventually returns with Jesse and rages to him about Gale's death, which deeply worries and frustrates Mike. The situation of both henchman is made even worse when Mike asks Victor if he was seen by witnesses. Victor admitted that he was "just another looky-loo", which inspires Mike to make a rare tell, a little tsk sound with his mouth and remark "I guess I better get this over with". He then walks away from Victor and presumeably calls Gus to alert him Gale's murder. He, along with the other three, wait for Gus to arrive. They have all made mistakes and are uneasy about the boss showing up. When Gus finally does arrive, he brutally slashes Victor's throat, holding him in a manner that will speed his bloodloss and hasten death, all of which startles Mike who instinctually pulls his weapon. He watches the entire slaughter play out, clearly one of the most brutal he's laid eyes on, replete with Gus washing the blood off and donning his street clothes in the same Mr. Rogers fashion with which he does everything. He is thus compelled to oversee Walt and Jesse dispose of Victor's corpse, which they liquify using hydrofluoric acid . The morning after, he remains deeply unsettled by what had transpiried earlier and fears for his very sanity, now having witnessed what Gus is capable of when his subordinates fail him. At night, he's tracked down by Walt at a bar and listens to an attempt to convince him to help bring Gus down. Instead of joining Walt, Mike squares up and gives him fair warning "are you done?" and sends him to the floor. He gives him a bootheel lesson in loyalty before he thanks Walt for the drink and departs via the front door . A few days later, Mike, anticipating trouble, is concealed in the back of a refridgerated Los Pollos truck that is transporting meth. Two cartel hijackers show up and kill another of Gus' truck drivers, then empty their machine guns into the back of the prone truck. However, knowing their MO from previous hijacks, Mike survives the attack by crouching on the floor behind cover. After dispatching the trigger happy bandits with minimum fuss, he notices that he hasn't escaped unscathed: the first bullet took off a small piece of his right ear. Afterwards, Mike is notified by Tyrus of a sneakthief gutterpunk stealing money from Jesse's house. The two catch the puke responsible, then return to Jesse's house where they get rid of all the tweekers, then awaken Jesse to the news. Mike warns Jesse that his behavior is unacceptable and he is "walking on thin ice". Jesse surprises Mike by calling the play as a bluff. As a result, Mike reports this to Gus and gets the permission for some displinary actions. Mike is then seen with Jesse in a car driving to an unknown picnic location . As Mike drives Jesse to an unknown location, Mike has a phone conversation with Walt and reassures him that Jesse is in safe hands. Way out in the desert, Mike drives up a long dirt road and after a few minutes stops the car near some old shack and grabs a shovel from the trunk. Jesse nervously holds his keys in his fist as a makeshift weapon, Mike sees this but walks right by him and starts digging a hole in the yard seemingly at random, Mike pulls a bag of money out of the ground and tosses it in the trunk. He then tells Jesse that they have six more moneybags to collect that day and he wants to finish before dark. He needs his rest. As the pickups continue, he becomes suddenly overtly annoyed by Jesse's physical, audible expressions boredom and impatience. After listening to Jesse demand he tell him what they're doing and why, Mike abruptly pulls the car over and angrily explains his mourning over Victor and his cluelessness about Gus's real motives (and to that extent, why Jesse was ordered to come along). He then barks that in no way is Jesse "the guy" for this job, which Jesse totaly buys cause he's angry too. No way was Mike gonna say any of this until they were both good and angry though, because of the relative transparency of the whole play on Jesse even he might see through it if not distracted with some other drama. Mike doesn't get angry on the outside unless he needs to. Mike makes the final pickup of the evening at another abandoned warehouse. While he's inside, a second vehicle arrives, and Jesse notices one of its occupants approaching Mike's car with a shotgun. After Jesse hits the other vehicle with Mike's Dodge and peels away, Mike is seen wandering the streets calling someone on his cell for a ride. Not long after Jesse drives up in the Dodge and tells him what went down while he was inside the warehouse. Mike, sufficiently impressed, actually lets Jesse smoke inside his now dented car. Later, Mike and Gus rendezvous outside Los Pollos Hermanos, after waiting alone in Gus's office, next to the computer that's on, only Mike. Here he expresses his wish to not kill Jesse. This blossoms into Gus's objective, to make Jesse believe he's a 'hero' and owns a criminlal score in his favor. The ruse is Mike now owes Jesse a solid for having his back and not fleeing in the the (though Mike does seem puzzled about the logic of Gus's ultimate plan). Mike and Jesse accompany Gus to Mexico where Jesse will teach the cartel chemico how to cook blue sky. At a party afterward, Gus poisons many cartel members and Mike garrotes Gaff. Gus drank some of the poison himself and is severely weakened despite his effort to vomit it all out. As the trio hobble to a car with Gus when attempting to escape, Mike is shot by one of the cartel members, whom only Gus knows to be Joaquin Salamanca. Jesse kills Joaquin and splits with Mike and Gus . Jesse is told by Mike to drives to another warehouse where there is a doctor waiting for them. At first the doctors only seem concerned about Gus, frustrating Jesse, but eventually they get around to treating Mike after explaining, "This man pays my salary" (referring to Gus). He is given ample blood transfusions, stiched up and will stay in Mexico to recuperate while Gus and Jesse return to the U.S. Gus indicates to Jesse that he will send for him when he is well enough to travel. His current state of condition is unknown . He probably figures he'll be alright if he makes it off the bed. Trivia * Mike's surname "Ehrmantraut" was not revealed until episode 11 of Season 4, "Crawl Space" (it was seen briefly on a shelf label underneath his blood type in Mexico). Category:Characters